The BigTen baseball tournament is going to be held this coming week at the brand new Huntington Park (Home of the Clippers). I looked up the schedule and saw the bracket (link below). I really don't know how people can write out this format and say "Looks good.".
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/bsb-51609.pdf
First and foremost: Giving a first round bye in a baseball tournament is absolute insanity. I cannot think of any other sport where it is as overwhelming an advantage as it is in baseball. Pitchers mean everything and to give teams a chance to have their ace throw against another team's #2 guy is unfair, especially since the team resting their ace hasn't won a damn game in the tournament.
For anyone that says that it is the benefit of winning the regular season, I say bullshit. Seeding is the advantage of winning the regular season. Getting to be the home team as the higher seed is the advantage of winning the regular season. Getting byes later in the tournament is the advantage of being the highest seed.
Second: Look at the road you have to take if you are the #3-6 seed and you lose that first round game. WTF? You now have to win 6 consecutive games!!!! That is crazy. If you are a top 2 seed, you only have to win 3 games and if you lose your first game (2nd round), you still only have to win 4 games to take the championship.
I think a better format for 6 teams is to have all 6 teams play in round one, then have one of the losers move up to play in the place of the "bye" round for the winner of the 1 seed v 6 seed game. After mapping it out, I think that this should be a play until someone is gone matchup. So, if you lost your first round game and are moved back up to the "winners bracket" you have to knock out the winner of the 1vs6 matchup in order to advance. My thought process on this is that if you lost your first game, you should have to have two wins under your belt to goto the "winners bracket" championship matchup.
Anybody else have thoughts on brackets? I love them, but just get annoyed when they are dicked up.
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/bsb-51609.pdf
First and foremost: Giving a first round bye in a baseball tournament is absolute insanity. I cannot think of any other sport where it is as overwhelming an advantage as it is in baseball. Pitchers mean everything and to give teams a chance to have their ace throw against another team's #2 guy is unfair, especially since the team resting their ace hasn't won a damn game in the tournament.
For anyone that says that it is the benefit of winning the regular season, I say bullshit. Seeding is the advantage of winning the regular season. Getting to be the home team as the higher seed is the advantage of winning the regular season. Getting byes later in the tournament is the advantage of being the highest seed.
Second: Look at the road you have to take if you are the #3-6 seed and you lose that first round game. WTF? You now have to win 6 consecutive games!!!! That is crazy. If you are a top 2 seed, you only have to win 3 games and if you lose your first game (2nd round), you still only have to win 4 games to take the championship.
I think a better format for 6 teams is to have all 6 teams play in round one, then have one of the losers move up to play in the place of the "bye" round for the winner of the 1 seed v 6 seed game. After mapping it out, I think that this should be a play until someone is gone matchup. So, if you lost your first round game and are moved back up to the "winners bracket" you have to knock out the winner of the 1vs6 matchup in order to advance. My thought process on this is that if you lost your first game, you should have to have two wins under your belt to goto the "winners bracket" championship matchup.
Anybody else have thoughts on brackets? I love them, but just get annoyed when they are dicked up.
